Abstract:
Background:
Patient safety and quality are at the heart of the delivery of healthcare; though evidences are
limited in developing countries such as Ethiopia, the attention is given to patient safety in our
country; this paper details the findings of a baseline assessment of the patient safety culture in
Adare General Hospital in Hawassa, SNNPR, Ethiopia and compares results with
international studies that utilized the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Objectives: to assess the level of patient safety culture and associated factors in Adare
general hospital at Hawassa, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Methods: This study applied cross sectional study design. Moreover a qualitative in-depth
interview and focused group discussions were added. Quantitative data was collected through
self-administered data collection technique. Ten one-to-one in depth interview using a semi- structured guide and three focused group discussions were performed to collect qualitative
data. For quantitative data Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was used to collect the
data on patient safety practice. The tool included 42 items that measure 12 dimensions or
composites of patient safety culture. The percentage of positive responses for each item and composite was calculated. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to derive potential variables to be
included in the regression analyses. All tests were conducted at a significance level of 0.05. Results: 310 questionnaires were distributed and 263 were returned from which 9
questionnaires were incomplete and discarded (response rate of 81.9%). The finding of this
study showed that the overall level of patient safety culture was found to be low
46.33%.Teamwork within units with positive response rate of 77% was found to be areas of
strength. Dimensions scoring the lowest and as such can be considered areas requiring
improvement were: supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety (45%), overall perception of safety (42.1%), communication openness (38.8%), frequency of events
reported (38.8%), hospital handoffs and transitions (34.9%), staffing (29%) and non-punitive
response to error (17.6%). Conclusions: Overall patient safety practice was found to be low. The hospital should give
special attention to areas scoring the lowest positive responses.
